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If you think about this, it is scary. Sounds like something out of China.

The Washington Post
The Politics of Science
Thursday, February 9, 2006; Page A22

IT IS A RARE thing for the biography of a 24-year-old NASA spokesman to attract the attention of the national media. But that is what happened this week when George C. Deutsch tendered his resignation. Mr. Deutsch had, it emerged, lied about his (nonexistent) undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University. Far more important, several New York Times articles over the past week or so have exposed Mr. Deutsch as one of several White House-appointed public affairs officers at the agency who tried to prevent senior NASA career scientists from speaking and writing freely, especially when their views on the realities of climate change differed from those of the White House.

Mr. Deutsch prevented reporters from interviewing James E. Hansen, the leading climate scientist at NASA, telling colleagues he was doing so because his job was to "make the president look good." Mr. Deutsch also instructed another NASA scientist to add the word "theory" after every written mention of the Big Bang, on the grounds that the accepted scientific explanation of the origins of the universe "is an opinion" and that NASA should not discount the possibility of "intelligent design by a creator."

The spectacle of a young political appointee with no college degree exerting crude political control over senior government scientists and civil servants with many decades of experience is deeply disturbing. More disturbing is the fact that Mr. Deutsch's attempts to manipulate science and scientists, although unusually blatant, were not unique. Just before Christmas, the federal Environmental Protection Agency issued "talking points" to local environmental agencies. These suggestions were intended to help their spokesmen play down an Associated Press story that -- using the EPA's own data -- showed that impoverished neighborhoods had higher levels of air pollution.

At the Food and Drug Administration, the director of the Office of Women's Health recently resigned because she believed that the administration was twisting science to stall approval of over-the-counter emergency contraception. Off the record -- because they fear losing their jobs -- some scientists at the Department of Health and Human Services say that Bush administration public affairs officers screen their appearances and utterances more carefully than anyone ever did. Scientists at places such as the Agriculture Department, not a part of the government known for its publicity hounds, have made the same claim.

In every administration there will be spokesmen and public affairs officers who try to spin the news to make the president look good. But this administration is trying to spin scientific data and muzzle scientists toward that end. NASA's Mr. Hansen was right when he told the Times that Mr. Deutsch was only a bit player. "The problem is much broader and much deeper and it goes across agencies," he said. We agree.

I think it depends on which Republicans you mean. There are Republicans, then there is the motley crew of neocons, theocracy supporters, etc. who wear the cloak of Republicans. I think what is happening is that the real Republicans are waking up to the fact that the fundamentalist Republicans have hijacked the party.

If you think about this, it is scary. Sounds like something out of China.

..... General Franks, in 2003, issued a general warning to enjoy our remaining days of freedoms because 'when' a WMD is unleashed in America it could sign the end to our 200 year national experiment with Freedom and Liberty.

..... When / If our Constitution is replaced with Martial Law may seem far more 'scary' of a concern for many, than the past polite requests for mere cooperation with administration policy.

I cannot wait until apocalypse. When god takes his faithful followers up to heaven and leaves the rest of us to trials and tribulations. Good riddance to all you hateful bible thumpers. What makes you people think that you can tell another person what is right, just, moral, sin or a hell worthy trespass. God doesn't work through you. Besides your belief is based on a highly distorted, semi coherent ramblings of a human that was most likely highly charismatic and completely nuts.

I know I almost believe it. It could be a result of recently reading 'The Broker', but I find myself doubting government actions more and more every day. The entire thing could be staged and we'd be none the wiser. We know what the government wants us to know and that's it.

I don't like being lied to, and I don't like feeling duped, and I really don't like people not being able to speak their minds. But - I also hate to be apathetic but a lot of times I am. Think about most of the average person's work experience - you really don't know a lot of what is going on above you in the organizational structure but you can be sure that YOUR needs are not being considered in any of what is really going on up there. Unfortunately, same seems to go on in the running of this country. And I mean that regardless of what political party is in control. It is always just a different set of interests being looked out for and, for the most part, they are not yours.

You are a number at whatever company you work for unless you run it or are in enough power to affect change. You are the same to the country - a voter and mainly a number in that respect too

This all sounds like a movie script/plot. That said, I'd think that puts it squarely in the "conspiracy theory" column for me. I just think a lot of things are blown into some major conspiracy with motives that are not for the good of anybody but a few key players. Wait - what I just said also sounds a bit like a conspiracy theory